Thacher State Park

One of the meadows along the way

Snowmobile tracks back into the hardwoods

The LP seems quite interesting north of the Catskills

One of the world's worst cities, especially considering the people in it

Altamont

Green Mountains, possibly Killington

The Escarpment, to the south

Some ice fisherman on Lake Thompson

Another look at the escarpment

A small brook before it drops off the cliff

Despite living within a half hour drive of Thacher for the past few months, I had yet to make a trip out there.  I had seen the park listed as a site for some trail runs and it has a spot in one of my guide books, but other than that I never heard any mention of it.

In my web search I came across a map of the park on the NY-NJ Trail Conference site.  I headed for the remote northern portion, which does not even show up on Google Maps.

The small parking lot was full so I parked along the road.  This would be a short walk following the Long Path for a mile to an overlook.  The Long Path passes through the entire park along an escarpment.  I have to imagine this is the last appealing section of the Long Path until it reaches the outskirts of Albany.

Unfortunately the walk followed a path that snowmobilers created.  Fortunately though, there would be no sight, sound or smell of them.  The path made its way through a lovely hardwood forest with some open meadows.  On such a beautiful day, the views were stunning.  The Green Mountains and the Taconics formed a line of mountains to the east.  To the North, the village of Altamont could be seen below in the foreground.  Looking farther north, one could see the foothills of the Adirondacks.  Further away than I thought it would be and smaller, I could see the city of Albany to the east.  A great day and probably the last walk in the snow.